The 2024 season welcomes the Oklahoma Sooners into the not-so-friendly confines of the Southeastern Conference, forging the new-look super conference through the 2024 college football realignment. What this means for college football going forward has been hypothesized ad nauseam since the decision was announced, but as the season approaches, how do the Sooners match up in their first SEC season?
Okaloma’s SEC Schedule Should Be Tricky
The first season of the Sooners’ SEC tenure kicks off in Week 4 by hosting the Tennessee Volunteers. However, four consecutive conference games are followed, but only one from Norman.
After a slight reprieve with the visiting Maine Black Bears, Oklahoma’s tail-end of the season incurs two road SEC games and a date with the visiting Alabama Crimson Tide. That’s four true road games in the conference, a neutral site game against now-conference foe Texas, and just three SEC home games in their first season in the conference.
MORE: SEC Releases Full 2025 SEC Opponents Schedule
We’ll go game by game to see what the Sooners’ chances are for success in 2024.
Week 4 vs. Tennessee
All-Time Series: OU leads 3-1
Last Meeting: 2015 (31-24, Oklahoma)
Current Win Streak: 3, Oklahoma
An intriguing matchup presents itself in Week 4, not just because it’s Oklahoma’s first SEC game but also because of the quarterback matchup. The expectations are sky-high for Jackson Arnold at Oklahoma and Nico Iamaleava at Tennessee.
Both quarterbacks were supremely talented. They were also high-ranked recruits, which gave fanbases hope for the future. More importantly, both sat a year behind an upperclassman, a rarity in the transfer portal era.
As fun as this matchup is between the quarterbacks, it’s also just the fifth time these programs have met in their illustrious histories. Must-see TV is the appropriate term here.
For OU’s chances, however, it all relies upon how their defense holds up against the high-octane Josh Heupel offense. Can they limit the big plays and stop what is expected to be a dominant offensive unit this fall?
Week 5 @ Auburn
All-Time Series: OU leads 2-0
Last Meeting: 2017 (35-19, Oklahoma)
Current Win Streak: 2, Oklahoma
For just the third time, OU takes on Auburn as they enter Jordan-Hare Stadium ahead of their bye week. The Tigers are certainly not the foe that they were a decade ago, but have made great strides on defense to limit opponents.
Payton Thorne will carry the Auburn offense against Oklahoma, however, and that gives the Sooners a massive advantage. Though not a complete runaway, this one has the chance of getting out of hand early and could give Oklahoma an even longer lead time for the Red River Showdown.
Week 7 vs. Texas (in Dallas)
All-Time Series: Texas leads 63-51-5
Last Meeting: 2023 (34-30, Oklahoma)
Current Win Streak: 1, Oklahoma
What to say about this game, what to say indeed. With so much to do about this specific rivalry matchup through the years, the fact that both programs will take their historic matchup to the SEC simply just means more.
The 120th meeting between the historic programs brings excitement for the future of the SEC as a conference and the future of college football in general. As for the on-field projection, Quinn Ewers vs. Jackson Arnold is just one of multiple positional battles that should dominate headlines in the lead-up to this game.
Week 8 vs. South Carolina
All-Time Series: no previous matchups
Last Meeting: n/a
Current Win Streak: n/a
For the first time in history, the Gamecocks and Sooners meet as Oklahoma welcomes South Carolina to Norman in Week 8. It’ll be a different Gamecock team in 2024 than it was in 2023, but that may be a good thing for SC fans.
By Week 8, we’ll have a much better read on South Carolina and what they bring to the table, but for now, it’s a hodge-podge of transfer portal additions and Shane Beamer-raised recruits that could strike fear into the SEC this season. However, Oklahoma will have the depth and should be the better overall team heading into their second SEC road test.
Week 9 @ Ole Miss
All-Time Series: Ole Miss leads 1-0
Last Meeting: 1999 (27-25, Ole Miss)
Current Win Streak: 1, Ole Miss
The Sooners head to Oxford for a much-anticipated battle with the Ole Miss Rebels in Week 9, in a matchup that could have College Football Playoff implications. Lane Kiffin’s squad is as best positioned to crash the SEC Championship party as any team in 2024, and getting Oklahoma at home is a fortuitous bounce.
Ole Miss is loaded with talent and Jaxson Dart’s progression through the 2023 season was a sight to behold. Can the Sooners stave off a midseason defeat and pull off what would likely be considered an upset? It will all come down to their defense and limiting this loaded passing attack in Oxford.
Week 11 @ Missouri
All-Time Series: OU leads 67-24-5
Last Meeting: 2011 (38-28, Oklahoma)
Current Win Streak: 1, Oklahoma
Don’t look now, but the perennial powers that be may not be in 2024, and the Sooners are lucky to have a rebound opportunity in Week 10 sandwiched in between SEC powers this season. The Missouri Tigers return their core of skill players that saw them rocket toward stardom in 2023 as well as offensive coordinator Kirby Moore.
This team, led by Brady Cook and Luther Burden, is as talented offensively as any team in the country. The only question that remains on the Missouri roster this summer will be their defensive depth. But with the way this team has recruited and the fact that it’s at home, it could mean this matchup heavily leans toward the Tigers.
They’re a long way from evening the rivalry record, if even possible at this rate, but the return of this rivalry should not be overshadowed by the late-season SEC race implementations that should arise in the lead-up to this one.
Week 12 vs. Alabama
All-Time Series: OU leads 3-2-1
Last Meeting: 2018 (45-34, Alabama)
Current Win Streak: 1, Alabama
The Alabama Crimson Tide will look a lot different this season, there’s no denying that. But with the roster Nick Saban built and recruited, it’s safe to assume this Crimson Tide team will still be a formidable foe for all opponents in 2024.
Jalen Milroe enters with legitimate Heisman Trophy buzz and the entirety of the roster is made up of two different College Football Playoff teams from a year ago in Washington and Alabama. A ways away, this matchup is a testament to the rigors of an SEC schedule and one that Oklahoma will certainly have to be aware of.
Week 13 @ LSU
All-Time Series: LSU leads 2-1
Last Meeting: 2019 (63-28, LSU)
Current Win Streak: 2, LSU
It’s been since 1950 that the Sooners have last defeated the Tigers. Okay, fine, they’ve only beat them once, but they’re hungry for revenge following the 2019 shellacking the National Champion Tigers put on Oklahoma that season.
KEEP READING: Where Does Oklahoma Rank In CFN’s 2024 Strength of Schedule for All 134 Teams?
Only fitting that this game is the regular season finale as both programs have aspirations of competing for the SEC and crashing the College Football Playoff and this one — if things go to plan for both — could be a CFP Round of 32 type matchup.
Find all the rest of our college football schedules, including week-by-week looks at the ACC, Big Ten, SEC, and Big 12 schedules for 2024. Be sure to read through Oklahoma’s 2024 football schedule as well, ahead of their first season as a member of the 16-team SEC.